Alone
by Sara Darkotter
Summary: And here I am in college all the way across the states, missing my friends. Especially Be-B-Blue, goddammit. Talk about lovesick...


My twenty-sixth story, my first Virals fic, ah, life is good.

* * *

I sighed as I finally managed to get off campus. Yeesh, you think people had never met a miraculous super detective before.

Which, since the people who had been bugging me were classmates, they had.

Welcome to me, four years after I've become a Viral. I'm currently a student at University of Washington. Also known as U-Dub.

I'm up here, studying...Well okay, even I'm not sure. At this point, I might as well major in creative writing. My first tale? Mine, with some fabrications so no one catches on.

Set it on a different world?

Nah. But still good.

Change names?

Duh.

Make the murder happen not quite as long ago?

Eh.

Cha-

You know what? Screw this.

Or I could just keep going with my sciency stuff and take up with the police. As a worker, not a Scooby Do freebooter or in handcuffs.

Watching a squirrel run by, I told myself it was a good idea to take classes up here in summer. My skin wasn't TOO horrible.

...Too.

Unfortunately, a part of my brain, the larger part, argued that I missed Shelton and Hi and B-

Be-

Dammit, here I went again, I couldn't even THINK his name. Was I really that deep in?

Taking deep breaths, I concentrated on detailing the tree next to me. Rough bark, J shaped branches, needles. Cedar. Western Red Cedar, a Seattle tree. The stuff was everywhere if you looked hard enough.

I continued this detailing of things on my long walk.

I shuffled to my bus stop and waited, looking at the app I'd acquired within two days of moving up here. See, I had to walk down to a twenty-seven stop, then ride that for a while to get an eight down to where I was living.

Have I mentioned I miss riding boats everywhere? I was tempted to move to Vashon or Bainbridge just so I could take a ferry again every day.

Ferry, ferry drivers, Mr. Blue, Be-

Again!

I gritted my teeth, willing myself to think his name. But somehow it felt like an untouchable thing. As if it was a floodgate that would swamp me and probably turn me wolfdog on the metro. Close quarters, bad idea. Never did quite learn to control it.

But still. I couldn't think about Be-B-Blue without feeling upset.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder? BS! It makes you feel heartbroken! Hell, I never even dated the guy and I was heartbroken!

Ok, that may have been because he took up with this one girl in the last two months of our senior year when I had (finally) started working up that courage to say it.

It. You know, those three words plastered all over the end of Disney films. Which, by the way, I've recently started watching because every Wednesday morning I watch my roommate's sister, who is six and not a genius, which narrows down the selection of films I know are kid-friendly.

Yay, lots of time to wish I had friends!

You see, here I'm either just some person or "OH MY GOD! That person from those newspapers!" which doesn't make for much more than fans.

I groaned quietly, but pretended to be looking at my schedule, so I only got a few shrugs for my troubles.

Off the bus, I felt agitated, for unknown reasons other than the fact that my brain was failing to complete his name. Which was strangely staying in the forefront on my brain instead of the corner my head goes off the cry in.

Breathing pace increasing, I walked from the stop, knowing thanks to my handy app that the bus wouldn't be here for ten minutes.

So standing in a little park area, I let my Viral side free, just as it wanted.

_**SNAP.**_

Instantly, everything sharped into a new focus. I saw every needle on a (Yet another) cedar across the street, the grime on the raven circling far above me, the hairs on the head of the graying woman all the way far down the street.

I watched another squirrel preparing for winter, restraining myself enough not to chase even though I really _wanted_ to. No, _needed to._ My primal instincts screamed of the cold I now noticed coming, the little niggling note that had also been bothering me now coming into light as Winter. Coming Soon. Prepare.

So it was going to get cold? Good. I came from the Northeast, I'd love that.

And then

_**SNUP.**_

There. All better, just no thinking about anything but class.

At the stop, I looked at my phone. The little circle telling me "Hey you got a text message" stared at me.

Oh. Right. It was the message that my roommate sent me in the middle of class that made me be thankful it was on silent. Presentation.

So now I looked at it.

_Britney: Guy came by asking about you. Played dumb, he got frustrated and left._

Okay, yes, very creepy Brit.

Actually, yes it was, but sarcasm kept me calm.

_Tory: Looked like?_

Three minutes, the bus came, then

_Britney: dark eyes and hair, darkish skin, kinda metal-like..._

Britney wasn't good on description. Everyone has flaws.

The description was familiar though. My brain kept dodging around it, however, so I ignored it. Oh, I know how you work, thoughts. You want attention, come out here...

Ignoring it and turning up my paranoia almost to the point of flaring (You know, just in case), I looked out the window.

The streets of Seattle dragged by. Not whipped, this isn't a car after all, but they definitely moved. The concrete, the people, the dogs, the pigeons...

The pigeons.

We have lots of those.

Looking to the skyline, I saw the Space Needle (That I never went to because it's really just a tourist thing) rise, the way it's built making it appear taller than it really was.

I promptly went back to looking at the dogs.

I missed Coop. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring him up here because housing that includes pets varies.

I missed my conversations with him, running with him, using him to distract against Be-

God fucking dammit!

I let my nails dig into my palm. See, classmate I don't ever remember the name of? That's why I let them grow long.

Ah, happy me. First year of college, eighteen, away from any family or friends, missing everything from actual salt water to my dog to my stupid crush.

At least, I called it a crush. By now I knew better.

I also knew that Disney gave its heroines mental disorders. So you win some, you lose some. When I got home I was probably going to watch Bambi again and genderswitch it.

Genderswitch was a term I picked up from Britney. Dammit, she may have bright points, but she was writing fanfiction in COLLEGE. I gave that up in middle school, where I picked it up in the first place.

You know, except for the occasional BrennanXBlue one that scrawled lazily through my head in senior classes.

The ones I could teach half the content of to third graders. (But have to take anyway)

Actually, I did that once. Fun, except their adorable faces smiling at you until it begins to be creepy.

Also, the following.

IFollow.

Knowing I was only torturing myself, I pulled out my phone, awaiting a map of the U.S as my poor phone tried desperately to keep the four blue dots on the same screen.

Yep. I stared at this about once a week, usually, just to reinforce how sad a sap I was. Of course, I could always add Coop somehow and drive it home completely.

By now I had the look imprinted in my eyes. Three dots merged on Charleston, where you have to zoom in to separate.

So today, as I got off, I looked at the map, keeping a tight grip on my phone.

Charleston and lonely me up in the corner.

I zoomed in the east coast, then the state.

Two blue dots.

What?

Looking at the names, I had Hi and Shelton, but no B...

'Calm down, maybe he got a new phone, or...Calm down!' I gave myself a mental slap. Strangely, though I wasn't angry, I was trying to flare. What, was love really that insane?

Blue and I worked in the same way. You had to piss us off to make us flare, which, when I thought about it, was easy to do. Just think of one thing that I was currently mad at or dig up an old scab. Tada, free flare and pissed me.

Taking a deep breath as I took the stairs up to my apartment, I tried to think logically, letting my fingers fly to find me, just for starters.

'There's me, in Seattle-That's...Be-His...Dot...'

But it couldn't be! After all, leave the Atlantic by itself? It might get lost! The poor thing didn't have a collar.

Yeah, so Blue was practically married to that damn boat of his, so the idea he'd leave real salt water to come up here was...0.4? I dunno, I was still failing at thinking logically.

I flew upstairs, scrabbling to open the door. Britney opened her mouth as I flew to my bedroom, but my hearing was currently non-functional, except to certain voices.

I booted up my laptop. Maybe, maybe, MAYBE!

Looking at iFollow, I strangely found that Shelton was on it. Suddenly, my screen broke into two, me on one side, Shelton on the other.

"Tory? Tory! It's you! You...Haven't changed much." His eyes turned from the screen. He'd changed lots, including thinner glasses. "Look, I might as well get to the point. I've been waiting to see if you'd look at this old thing."

"...Why?" Geez, wow. Haven't talked to him in eight months and that's my first word. Some pack member I am.

Are we really a pack anymore? Even just friends? A lot can change in eight months.

"Well, you see... I know you tasked me with Coop and all...Erm...Someone stole Coop."

My eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Erm, I was only pausing...Don't...Go Viral yet...Er...You see, Ben's missing too...I think he...Um...You ok?"

He said it, the magic word. My heart clenched, adrenaline pumped, a whine twisted its way from my lips.

_**SNAP.**_

Oh, why now, of all times?

"Tory! Calm down! I know-Tory! Don't get pissed at him! He-"

I let my laptop fall as I jumped up, reaching over to throw a clock at the door, the closest projectile. It left a dent.

'Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben.'

Without thinking, the message floated.

_What?_

I jumped,

_**SNUP.**_

And lost connection.

I collapsed on my knees.

"You ok now?"

I let my eyes, back to their human fuzziness, blur farther.

"He's here. In Seattle. I...Gotta go Shel."

He nodded as I closed to vid chat.

'Come on...' I tapped a message to Be-Ooh, fresh wound. Great, I went from unable to to touch my mother's death to unable to speak his name. Well, don't that seem honorable.

_Tory: iFollow says you're here._

I got an instant reply.

_Ben: Yep. Brought Coop. Lost though._

_Tory: You know where I live. There now. Use iFollow if you need to._

The reply bypassed my brain entirely. Now livid that it had been left out of the ordering, it stormed off, leaving my heart to want to add things like followup :) and less than threes.

And then I remembered my roommate.

"Um, Brit?"

"Yeah?"

"That guy who stopped by, he leave a name?"

"Ben Something," she said without looking up.

How to phrase this. "He's...Actually a friend of mine."

Instant giggles. "Frieend," she said with air quotes. "Suure."

"Yes, friend. Good Britney. Sit. He's coming by, so just...No snarky comments, please." I was afraid of how he'd act. We may both be Virals, but he was stronger than me. I really didn't want to wrestle the guy if Brit pissed him off.

Except-

Ack! Bad fanfiction! Don't sneak up on me! And leave the smut at the door!

"Better yet, I'll leave! Call when I can return! Or..."

She packed for a night. Ahem. What the hell, Brit.

"Off to my lover, away!"

She was gone, humming one thing or another.

I sat down and watched a blue dot move closer on my screen, until they merged and several minutes later came a knock at the door.

I flew to open it, looking up at...

Hot...One true hot...

That thick black hair had just that right degree of mess, those dark eyes impassive, that bronze skin practically glowing...Oh God...

I probably stared at him a good few minutes.

"Tory."

Even his voice...Got deeper...

Coop!

I looked at the dog. He barked quietly, happy to see me, and I came back to my senses long enough to let them in.

He sat carefully on the couch.

"How have you been?"

"Oh fine, I mean I don't really know what I'm studying, but I guess that's what I get for jumping right in instead of a gap year, though I missed you-"

My hand froze over the can of coke it was opening.

"You, Cooper." I turned it into the dog staring happy-feed-me face by my leg. Slick move, Tory, real slick.

Silence from Ben, as expected, but it made me nervous suddenly.

"I mean, I've missed all of you, not like I can help it I mean we were a pack and it's hard not to when we've practically read each others minds at times during high sch-"

"Stop."

The quiet word made everything freeze in my throat. I closed my eyes tight, facing the counter. "Yes?" I whispered.

Footsteps. Sweatglands kicked into high ge

_**SNAP.**_

ar.

I kept my eyes closed, letting my sharpened hearing zoom directly in on his loud footsteps, telling me he was now right behind me. Then came the feeling I hadn't felt in a while. The Viral iFollow tangling, the feeling of another mind joining to let messages float. What kicked him into flaring?

_Oh ple-_

I cut my thoughts off.

"Yes?"

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

"Why? Tory, look at me?"

I felt the can beginning to crumple in my hand I slowly half-turned, body tense as if to leave danger. Was this danger? I really couldn't tell a thing.

When I peeled my eyes opened, blocking thoughts of wishing I would stop, go human. We may have gotten the hang of speech, but everything else whirled on animal overdrive.

I tried to force myself to look at everything else. My hairbrush, across the room, with the individual strands of red all visible to me. Britney, also blessed with hair that could rat-nest in thirty seconds flat, was a master at getting it to detangle and stay that way. Right now, my hair was in a ponytail without me worrying out it getting stuck when pulling it out.

There was the homework I had to do. The stack of it...

My eyes kept getting drawn to Blue.

"So," he started casually, half circling me in a way that drew him closer. "You ever hook up with Jackson?"

Jason (Blue was very, very liberal with the guy's name, and it never mattered who was around either. He called him Julia. Right to his face. Jason got more distant after that.) was actually somewhere else. In iFollow, my map struggled and showed him as in...England. Damn rich kids.

"...No," worked its way meekly from my mouth under his golden gaze. I watched his pupils focus on my lips in what was an extremely uncomfortable way.

He took another half circle, again moving closer. I pressed myself against the counter, nervous. Be-(Fuck it!) never acted like this before.

"How's life been? College treating you ok?" He slowly peeled the half bent can from my grip.

"Well yeah but my classmates are always asking about those things we all did and itsreallyannoyingandI" my brain was miles behind my mouth "Gotanotherstalker" gasp of air, "Lastmonthandhadtogo...Viral. On...Him..." I watched the can be completely crushed in his grip, probably what he had tried to keep me from doing. Soda began to drip to the counter.

"...You ok?" my voice kept getting quiet.

"...Fine." I was now soaked with sweat, thank you very much. So don't you tell me you aren't fine! "Why didn't you go to the police?"

"..." I resisted the urge to laugh. After all we've been through, a stalker didn't seem big enough to bug me.

"Bet your boyfriend must have been pissed." He held the can over the sink, letting it drain and tossing it out. I watched the muscles in his arm ripple.

What the hell. It kept coming back to relationships!

I closed my eyes, sighing. "I'm single. If you have someth-"

Another circling, the footsteps echoing loud. I heard my downstairs neighbor talking about "How quiet and polite those girls upstairs usually are. I wonder what's wrong."

"S-Somthing to say..." my eyes inched open a little, realizing Blue had stopped right in front of me. _Right _in front of me. Zoning out the neighbor, I looked up.

He was looking down. Our nosetips touched.

I wasn't sure if I regretted the single comment or not. I was too busy trying to keep breathing.

If anything, I flared MORE.

I'd never been to this level. I could read everything in his mind, I could trot through Cooper's in my room, I could sense my old neighbor's downstairs. My senses overloaded with everything around me.

Except, you know, the important thing.

Blue.

Even he noticed the change, eyes widening for a second. I could see the delicate structures of them. I...

"Just had to make sure," he whispered. His voice was like a lifeline, dragging me back to the world at hand.

Until his lips crushed against mine.

They were nothing like I had daydreamed of. They weren't soft, but chapped, but they tasted of the Charleston sea air I had so desperately missed, the salt and sun and...

Love, I guess.

Just a tip for the people out there, do not kiss while flaring. Remember the super strength? Well we both got a few bruises.

His fingers tangled themselves in my hair, pulling out the ponytail. Meanwhile I dug my nails in the back of his neck.

Cue make-out session.

Sorry, did I say make-out? I meant fight for dominance.

Apparently the idea of me being pack leader didn't agree with Ben and I wasn't going to give it up, so yes, we ended up slamming into more than a few things. Including, you know, cabinets, cabinet and drawer handles, the counter, etc. A second standing can of coke spilled all over the floor, the sound, despite being amazingly loud to us, doing nothing.

We crashed to the floor, where

_**SNUP.**_

That happened.

Instantly aware of all my bruises and lifeless from all the spent energy, I went limp. Ben (HA! I did it!) noticed my mind missing from the tangle and stopped licking the inside of my mouth.

"T...Ory?" he whispered, holding himself off the ground. Dammit, he was still flaring. The bastard.

I gave a slight shrug. "Ow..."

I watched the gold fade from his eyes. Yet another surprise. It was usually it was On/Off like a light switch.

He settled on his side next to me, gently scraping hair from my eyes with the back of his fingers.

"Between you and the cabinet, I think I got a concussion," he said sheepishly. He then picked me up and set me on the couch. Okay...

I draped myself over the couch arm, wiped, as Ben (Yes!) sat at the other end, holding an ice pack to his head.

No conversation at first, but then, "So now you're cheating on your boat for me?"

A glare. "I'm not that attached! It's only a boat."

"Uh huh. It's _Sewee._ Sure you're not married?"

I suppressed a laugh.

"Hm."

"How's you get up here anyway?"

"...Drove?"

"You can drive?"

He shot me a look. _Of course drive. Is Man. Man drive._

"But you don't have a ca-"

"Borrowed Hi's."

"...He let you borrow his car?"

He coughed. "Well, he figured it out when it went missing..."

I sighed.

"You're doomed."

Hi let no one touch his car. At all. Not even an inch of the steering wheel or a little shred of the keys.

He shrugged, grinning. "It was worth it."

I hadn't seen him smile that big in a long, long time. Years.

"So when do you go back?"

"...Next week."

"Oh." Great, I get him and he'll be gone just like that. Yay life.

"Look, what are the chances you could take your classes down in Charleston?"

I bit my lip.

"Can I think some other time?"

A slight nod. He settled back, easing close to me.

"Something weird happened on the way here."

I was instantly alert.

"Ran into someone who looked like me, only a little younger. And he was with the others, the rest of us. They ran off when I saw them, but I flared," Ben had more luck on flaring on demand than the rest of us, "and beat them to the interstate. When I asked who they were, they said they were realm-runners..."

My mind went to work. Nothing like a good mystery.

Sorry homework. Maybe some other time.

* * *

Yay, one-shots that speak of plot devices!

Of course, I wrote this knowing that Seizure would make it about as canon as Atem walking in and helping them solve their problems.

Keep an eye out, me fandom members, for anything known as Realm-Runners. It will be a fic using that little idea that spawned in the last few paragraphs. *Waves its a girl/boy flags*

Also, reviews are very welcome, I respond to every one I can!


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